Delayed DONDA
DONDA by Kayne West, was produced for his passed mother, and was released August 28th 2021. Many speculations were brought up about when and if the album was going to be released due to the fact that it was originally supposed to drop July 22nd.
https://deadline.com/2021/08/kanye-west-donda-album-streaming-now-1234823854/
By using the “Ways of Knowing” terms, can we understand if these multiple delays were all done on purpose to increase demand and curiosity, or was this just an example of improper planning? Based on experience, I’ve never heard or witnessed a rapper sellout a stadium to premiere the tracks on the album, and from what I’ve learned he’s the only artist to not have one but three total listening parties.
https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/another-donda-listening-party-way/
Before all the listening parties, I would’ve thought that there is no way someone would be able to sell out a stadium just to listen to an unreleased album, but the more I followed the topic the more I craved the content. Kayne wasn’t playing with us, he was giving us a taste of the album but every listening party he’d add something new to keep the listeners on their toes and wonder when will the parties stop and the album be released? The idea sounds terrible but now that I’ve witnessed it and been one of those content cravers, I can now say “Kayne is a genius.” With every party came new content and more performing, and by the 3rd party he had a whole crew performing his album. DONDA was everywhere and the thought couldn’t be escaped. Once it was released the curiosity was freed and the mind was cleared for the listeners to take in and learn more about the true meaning of his work.
We as listeners draw conclusions or even have theories about what each song means, or why certain songs are in certain order, but we can only find out the true meaning from an authority figure. Sparks gives the example of how we as humans trust doctors because of their schooling and experience so we tend to trust their authority figure as well. For the album, the authority figure is Kayne, and we can’t just ask him a question about the album, we have to wait to listen for his word to be released. For example the first song on the 27 track album is “Donda Chant”. The lyrics provided by LyricFind are
“Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda
Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda
Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda
Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda
Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda
Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda
Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda
Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda
Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda
Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda, Donda.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_Y6tThuw9I
The text doesn’t do the justice of what the song is about. Each Donda is said at a different tone/length to create an intense feeling. A lot of confusion and even backlash was presented from this song before the world found out from the authority Kayne West about what the song is really all about. The Donda chant resembles his mothers last heartbeats, and you can feel each Donda get weaker and weaker. I’ve linked the YouTube video to help grasp the emotion presented from the chant. Sadly enough a lot of people were joking about the chant before the real meaning was released by the authority Kayne West. It’s examples like this that help us gain the complete knowledge from authority, because without Kayne releasing that information there isn’t any possible way for that theory to be proven. I’m glad Kayne came out and stated the meaning because I think it helped make his project more serious and allow people to not joke but appreciate it more.
Kayne’s listening parties, performances, and delays really added to his overall production. This tribute album holds a special place in his heart and his process wasn’t due to poor planning it was due to perfecting his album for his passed mother. Rest In Peace Donda.
